Letter: Why are pharmaceuticals legal and marijuana isn't?

1. Fact: Alcohol kills people. Also fact: If people choose to drink, they choose the risk.

2. Fact: Nicotine kills people. Also fact: If people choose to smoke, they choose the risk.

3. Fact: Pharmaceuticals have been known to cause both strokes and heart attacks. Also fact: Physicians tell us we need medicines to keep us healthy, the same medicines known to cause strokes and heart disease.

In the defense of marijuana, physicians prescribe it to increase appetite, ease chronic pain and help with sleeping difficulty. I have never heard of anyone having died from inhaling or consuming this medical drug.

I choose not to take pharmaceuticals, nor do I choose to smoke cigarettes. I am an occasional drinker.

For more than 50 years, I have chosen to smoke marijuana. My lungs show no sign of disease or damage. Scientists and others have stated the benefits of marijuana use. They have also stated they do not know enough about this plant to allow it permanent recognition in the medical world of pharmaceuticals. Other drugs get cleared and bottled and shelved and sold after three or four years of tested trials, yet we are still fighting the legalities of marijuana.

There is something wrong with our country, when some of our decision makers are hypocritical and weak. Some use it but fear of criticism makes them sit when it is time to stand.